Resort Report

Farming in the Turks & Caicos Islands By Jody Rathgeb Sometimes a cliché is the most concise way to express a truth. This is certainly the case when it comes to farming in the Turks & Caicos Islands: It’s a tough row to hoe! The saying has always been true for these rocky, mostly dry islands. In 1993, ...

TCI’s native plants are a long way from home. Story & Photos By B Naqqi Manco, TCI Naturalist It is a plant fanatic’s dream—away from the exhibition greenhouses and behind the public barriers, the walk through the glass-walled corridor of the Tropical Plant Nursery at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew in London passes by huge glasshouse rooms ...

Piping Plovers return to the TCI for the winter. By Eric F. Salamanca (DECR), Elise Elliot-Smith (US Geological Survey), Caleb Spiegel and Craig Watson (US Fish and Wildlife Service), Sidney Maddock (Contractor for Environment and Climate Change Canada), Simon Busuttil (Turks & Caicos National Trust & Royal Society for the Protection of Birds), Kathleen Wood (SWA ...

Could a life in the Islands be in your future? By Ben Stubenberg ~ Photos By Marta Morton, www.harbourclubvillas.com It’s your last day of vacation in the Turks & Caicos, and you don’t want to leave. Maybe you’re gazing out over that brilliant turquoise ocean with a cold drink in hand and thinking to yourself, “Wow, could ...

Paul Stephenson Higgs, Sr. By Dr. Carlton Mills One of the TCI’s “unsung heroes” is Paul Stephenson Higgs, Sr. During the early years of TCI’s political history, he was a tireless advocate for the rights of Turks & Caicos Islanders. Before the first hotel was built in Providenciales, he foresaw tourism as being the key to the ...

A look at the National Museum’s epic voyage through history. By Dr. Donald H. Keith, President, Turks & Caicos National Museum Foundation It’s hard to say exactly when and where some journeys begin. More often than not we wake up one day and it dawns on us that we’re going somewhere. Maybe it isn’t even clear where, ...

The evolving population of North and Middle Caicos. By Sara J. Kaufman North and Middle Caicos are the two largest islands in the Turks & Caicos archipelago but surprisingly, their combined population—across nearly 100 square miles and eight villages—comprises less than 10% of the country’s total residents. Tranquil and pristine, both islands boast a verdant green landscape ...

Lightning facts and photos. By Paul Kubecka ~ Photos By Michael Bishop Most of the photos you see in Times of the Islands depict sunny skies and cottony clouds floating over gem-colored seas and ivory beaches. But even paradise is not always perfect, especially during the summer and early fall months when atmospheric conditions are favorable to ...

A life of detecting. Story & Photos By John Galleymore They say you never forget your first coin. My first set me on a hobby that continues to this day. It was 1978 and I was barely ten years old. My father had bought me a metal detector that was really no more than a toy, but ...

The astonishing story of Anne Bonny and Mary Read. By Ben Stubenberg Who hasn’t dreamed of being a swashbuckling pirate in the Caribbean, living life wild and free on the high seas with the tantalising prospect of getting rich with treasure? The romantic imagery has been woven into our collective imaginations from childhood, starting with Captain Hook ...

This unusual plant is not as “romantic” as it would seem. Story & Photos By B Naqqi Manco, TCI Naturalist “Ugh, it’s like evaporating rubber cement,” I lamented, scraping the mucilaginous liquid off my fingers onto the twig of a pink poui tree, “No wonder I could never get it to work before—I was doing it wrong ...

Saving TCI’s iconic fishery. By Kathleen Wood ~ Photos By Marta Morton Imagine the Turks & Caicos Islands without steamed conch, stewed conch, grilled conch, cracked conch, conch salad, conch fritters, conch and rice or conch chowder. The queen conch (Strombus gigas) has been the mainstay of the TCI diet since Lucayan Indians first inhabited these shores ...

Veteran educator Mrs. Marjorie Basden By Dr. Carlton Mills and Beverly Malcolm The Marjorie Basden High School in South Caicos is known throughout the Turks & Caicos Islands for its achievements in academics, student representation in national events, music, and sports. In fact, several of the nation’s highest ranking politicians, including the country’s first female premier Hon. ...

Restoring endangered coral species to TCI reefs. Story & Photos By Don Stark, Chairman, Turks & Caicos Reef Fund Coral reefs form some of the planet’s most biologically diverse ecosystems, providing protection of beaches, habitat for fishes, and a natural source of carbon capture from the atmosphere (corals build their homes out of calcium carbonate which they ...

A dolphin sanctuary for the Turks & Caicos Islands. By Don Stark, Chairman, Turks & Caicos Reef Fund Facilities housing captive marine mammals for the entertainment of tourists have been around for many years. It is only recently that people have begun to realize that keeping highly intelligent, family-oriented, social animals such as dolphins in captivity is ...